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Ludhiana MC House clears eight agendas amid ruckus over solid waste project
Sanitation workers protest proposed waste project over job-loss fears; Opposition questions inflated cost
The municipal corporation (MC) General House on Monday cleared eight agendas amid repeated disruptions, as sanitation workers protested a proposed Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) project they fear will hand over door-to-door garbage collection to a private firm, triggering sloganeering by Opposition councillors inside the House.
The meeting, held at the Guru Nanak Dev Bhawan, began at 3.43 pm after members paid tribute to former councillor Surinder Singh. However, tension had been building well before the House convened, with the proposed ISWM project emerging as the principal flashpoint behind the unrest both inside and outside the civic body.
From around 2 pm, members of the Nagar Nigam Karamchari Union and private door-to-door garbage collectors blocked the main gates of the venue, briefly clashing with police personnel. The protesters alleged that the civic body and the state government were attempting to privatise door-to-door garbage collection under the ISWM project, which would adversely affect the livelihood of municipal sanitation staff and private collectors.
Sanitation workers said they were opposing the proposed solid waste management project as it had allegedly been introduced without taking employees into confidence. They warned that the tender, estimated at around ₹1,200 crore, would reduce work opportunities for municipal sanitation staff and demanded that the project be put on hold.
In an attempt to defuse the standoff, the mayor and senior civic officials held a closed-door meeting with select representatives of the protesting union and later spoke to local bodies minister Sanjeev Arora over the phone. Arora assured the protesters that the firm to be engaged under the ISWM project would not undertake door-to-door garbage collection and that existing private collectors would be allowed to continue their work. The company would deploy vehicles in designated areas to collect waste from private collectors, Arora added.
The protesters, however, rejected the assurance, insisting that any private firm should be restricted to lifting garbage only from secondary collection points. A meeting has now been scheduled with the minister on Tuesday to address their concerns.
Inside the House, proceedings descended into disorder soon after the reading of agendas began. BJP and Congress councillors objected to the first two resolutions—relating to confirmation of previous House decisions and approval of Finance and Contracts Committee (F&CC) resolutions—alleging that the documents had been circulated in bulk without providing adequate time for scrutiny. Opposition members also reiterated their objections to the earlier decision on the expansion of the city limits.
Although the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) managed to secure passage of all eight agendas, the ISWM proposal triggered the sharpest confrontation. BJP, Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) councillors termed the project “inflated” and “anti-worker”, alleging corruption to the tune of around ₹1,200 crore. Slogans of “dhakka-shahi” echoed through the House, forcing the mayor to repeatedly appeal for order and urge members to restrict their remarks to Zero Hour.
Leader of Opposition Shyam Sunder Malhotra questioned the proposed garbage lifting and processing rate of around ₹3,300 per tonne, pointing out that an existing project being executed by Green Tech was operating at approximately ₹ 950 per tonne. “How can the rate be increased almost fourfold? The compactors already installed are not functioning properly, and the DPR has been prepared without assessing ground realities,” he said, demanding a review of the detailed project report.
BJP councillor Poonam Ratra said councillors had not been consulted on a project involving nearly ₹1,200 crore. “An annual financial burden of around ₹150 crore will fall on the MC, which is already struggling to meet routine maintenance expenses,” she said.
SAD councillors also questioned whether the firm proposed for the project possessed the financial and technical capacity to execute work of such magnitude.
Congress and SAD members further alleged that increased mechanisation under the project would adversely affect sanitation workers, particularly those from the Valmiki community, and demanded fresh recruitment of safai karamcharis instead. They also flagged pending payments to A to Z company and the non-functional dog shelter, displaying photographs of dog-bite victims inside the House.
Responding to the allegations, additional commissioner Paramdeep Singh Khaira said the proposal was only a rough cost estimate and that tenders were yet to be floated. “Ludhiana, being Punjab’s largest city, required an integrated waste management system beyond door-to-door collection. At present, 32 compactors are operational, and more will be added as per requirement. Processing will follow collection to improve the city’s Swachh Survekshan ranking,” he added.
Despite continued sloganeering and Opposition threats of a sit-in, the mayor put the ISWM agenda to vote and declared it passed. The meeting concluded at 4.04 pm, even as protests and sloganeering continued outside the venue.
Cong leader’s drama disrupts proceedings
The charged atmosphere was further heightened when Congress councillor Gaurav Bhatti entered the House carrying a box of sweets and a pair of handcuffs, declaring that if raising issues related to his ward was a crime, he was prepared to be arrested. Bhatti, against whom a case was recently registered, said he had not even secured bail. Police personnel later checked the sweets box, following which Opposition councillors gathered near his seat and raised slogans against the AAP government.
FIR has been registered against Gaurav Bhatti for making allegation against AAP workers for allegedly taking money in return of making health card
